Alliance
by daily-chan
Summary: Sometimes, alliances are made with the most unexpected people. Garth could tell you all about that. Part of the Bond of Family series.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason.

Summary: Sometimes, alliances are made with the most unexpected people. Garth could tell you all about that.

This story is part of a series called A Bond of Family. If you are interested in reading the entire series, then the chronological order can be found on my profile.

Special thanks to Kitty for her help with beta-ing, you're the best!

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Sniffing, he huddled more closely into himself as he tried to ignore the wetness and focused on gaining sympathy, but both the shoppers and the weather weren't cooperating and he knew that logically he should follow the other beggars examples and find a good place for shelter before the clouds truly broke open.

Yet he also knew it had been two days since he had last eaten and he was desperate for some coin to put something in his stomach.

His musing made him slacking and he only noticed someone was approaching him when the hairs at the back of his neck suddenly rose and a shadow fell over him as a small cloaked guy with his hood pulled far over his face came to a stop before him.

Trying to ignore his flight response to the strong presence before him, he spoke up. "Got a knut to spare, sir?"

"No, but you can have two of these if you agree to speak to me somewhere more...private," as the guy spoke in a soft tone, he produced a Galleon out of his sleeve momentarily and white hot fury and humiliation washed over him at the suggestion; making him forget his apprehension.

"I'm not a night walker you sick knobhead!"

"A what?" The guy seemed taken back by his anger.

"I'm not a prostitute," he bit out, wondering if the guy was a bit slow on the uptake.

"A...what's a prostitute?"

"Are you bloody kidding me?" Either this guy was stupid or had no business being anywhere near Knockturn Alley.

"A sex worker. You're offering coin to a beggar on the street in exchange of going somewhere private with you," Garth's anger made way for reluctant amusement at the clear confusion in the other's entire posture; clearly on the side of stupid and having no business being where he was.

"To talk," the guy spluttered. "Did I not say I wished to speak to you? How could speaking with me in private be mistaken for...well...that?"

It was almost hilarious how the guy seemed unable to say prostitution or sex and the last of Garth's anger vaporized as it was clear the other clearly hadn't meant what it had looked like. "What would you possibly want to speak to the likes of me about?"

"Your monthly little problem," the other hurried to elaborate as he narrowed his eyes at him. "A friend of mine has the same problem and I want to help him."

"Help how?" Garth felt his anger rise again at the idea of any werewolf being patronized. "You want to cure him?"

The guy remained silent as a couple passed nearby through Diagon Alley, shifting slightly further into the shadows while tugging his hood down a bit more. "Ideally, yes. But realistically? I'd already be happy with anything that'll relieve the pain he goes through during the transformation or anything really that would make things easier for him."

All of Garth's anger deflated at the sheer genuine desire to just help he could hear in the other's voice as it was clear from his words that he wasn't trying to change his supposed friend; he was actually hoping to help him.

"And how do you suppose I could help you with that?"

"Could we discuss this somewhere less open?" Another person passing by, this time from Knockturn Alley, had him shifting again.

"Afraid someone will recognise you?" He couldn't help but tease even as he understood the desire for privacy for such a conversation. Because for all of the seriousness of the guy's soft words, he gave Garth the impression of a school boy afraid to be caught out of class.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I shouldn't be here, but I can't wait until the next official time I can come here as I'm not sure I would manage to sneak away long enough to speak with you properly."

It struck him as odd that one such as this guy would need to try and sneak away from anything.

Garth rose to his feet, because, although he didn't trust people on principle ever since becoming a werewolf, there was just something inexplicably calming about the bloke across of him; something he'd almost call an innocence despite where the guy had approached from and the power he possessed and he found himself trusting him easily.

"We can talk at the White Wyvern; Markus Scarrs has a few discreet boots we can use if you're willing to pay for it."

"That won't be a problem."

Now that Garth was standing, he noticed that the hooded man wasn't just small as he'd first thought; he barely even reached his elbow.

Raising an eyebrow, but choosing not to comment on the guy's size since he knew all about the unfairness of life, he indicated the midget to follow him and led them to the White Wyvern.

The guy produced a Galleon to secure themselves a private room, one which Garth sincerely hoped wasn't one of the two coins promised to him but the bloke spoke before he could protest.

"I'd also like for a full meal to be delivered within ten minutes, along with a bottle of...what do you drink? Firewhisky?"

"I...yes," holding his tongue, Garth watched as the guy ordered food he was clearly expecting him to eat and decided that even if he didn't get any money out of this, he would at least leave with a full belly and followed the man into the private room without argument.

"We'll discuss things properly once the food has arrived so you can ensure your stomach stops growling at me," blinking at the difference in his voice now that there was no background noise masking his soft tone; Garth found himself staring at the guy, trying to see underneath his hood.

"I..." looking up at the knock on the door, Garth swallowed his intended question and instead answered the door when indicated he should; allowing the waitress to enter and place the heavenly smelling food on the table before leaving again.

Not bothering with manners, Garth immediately attacked the food; nearly shovelling the food into his mouth.

"The food isn't going anywhere, it's all yours even if you decide not to help me."

"Bugger off," Garth immediately regretted snapping at the guy providing him food and looked up to apologise; the words dying in his throat as the guy had taken off his cloak.

Instead of seeing a midget as expected, there was a child standing across of him; tossing his cloak onto the bed before turning back to him and he suddenly realised just why the guy hadn't understood what a prostitute was as he probably wasn't even old enough to be out on the streets alone.

"Bugger me sideways, exactly how old are you?"

"Twelve, why?"

"Tw... are you bonkers? What is an ankle-biter like you doing out at this time of night, especially alone?"

"Trying to speak to you and hopefully form an alliance," the kid's warm grey eyes narrowed in resignation. "I thought we'd already established that much?"

"Right, you want to help your friend," no wonder the guy had radiated innocence and had to sneak away; kid probably hadn't seen enough of life yet to become jaded. Staring at the child suspiciously, he couldn't help but dread the thought suddenly crossing his mind. "And how old's your friend?"

"He's my age."

His stomach turned at the idea of a pre-teen werewolf and he had to bite back a curse. "When was he bitten?"

"Would that knowledge make a difference?"

"I suppose not, but let's just say I'm being nice."

"That would be the first time tonight," the kid shot back.

"There's a first time for everything," taking another bite of the food, Garth looked at the kid from under the strings of his filthy hair; his pretty features distinguished enough that he knew he'd seen him before even if he for the life of him couldn't figure out where it had been. "How'd you meet him?"

"Is that important?"

"Colour me curious," he was impressed by the boy's caution, happy he wasn't just blurting out all he knew to a stranger regardless of wanting his help. Couldn't be too careful in this world and who you trusted and even if the kid was innocent, he at least had common sense beyond what most adults possessed. But even if the kid was cautious, there was some hints he couldn't avoid revealing unintentionally.

The clothes the kid wore underneath the thick cloak screamed of a Muggle descent, except the boy had approached him from Knockturn Alley with intent; knowing exactly where he had come from.

And despite the clothing, the aristocratic elegance hanging around him screamed Pure-Blood to him even more than the way his senses kept alerting him to the strong magical essence inside the boy; screaming of a Pure-Blood upbringing to bring forth such a developed magical core at his age.

An age that told him the boy had either just started or was starting his magical education soon and that information coupled with what his eyes were telling him made him frown.

"So they allow werewolves into Hogwarts now?"

The boy didn't give any hint of surprise at his deduction, only raised an eyebrow. "I would say the right question would be, why shouldn't they be?"

"Oh, I don't know, perhaps because we change into bloodthirsty monsters each month?" he said sarcastically.

"Isn't once a month the keyword there?" The kid raised his eyebrow unimpressed as he took a seat across of him.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" he couldn't help but ask even as he marvelled at the boy's nerve.

"Would you rather have that I was?"

Barking out a laugh of surprise, Garth shook his head. The kid had attitude and no business being such a smart-ass at his age. But he was also willing to go far to try and help his friend and he found himself liking the little tyke.

"You don't care about what I am?"

"I'll admit that I don't know many werewolves, but the three I've met all seem pretty normal to me. Less bloodthirsty than most humans I've met."

The kid had managed to meet three different werewolves in his short life and Garth wasn't sure if he should feel impressed that he'd somehow managed to meet decent ones; or terrified of the kid's clearly rotten luck to have come across three werewolves.

"Consider yourself lucky then, most werewolves are monsters," he decided on.

"Are they truly? Or were most just shaped by what society made them to be and are simply too tired to try and fight against the injustice any longer?" As grey eyes bore into him for a long moment, a chill ran down Garth's spine at the compassionate understanding displayed in them as the last of the boy's words registered and his heart plummeted.

This was a boy who had seen suffering after all; who understood the world was cruel yet realised not everything was as black and white as it seemed and it scared him to think of what might have given such a young child such insight.

What had the kid been through to have lost faith in humanity so early on already?

But before he could find enough saliva to speak, the kid broke the silence. "Look, I'm on an extremely limited time frame as I don't know how long my absence will go unnoticed. Can we skip the social talk and get down to the point of why I am here?"

"You're a cheeky little brat, aren't you?" He couldn't help but breath out.

"And you're a nark, yet you do not see me complaining about it, do you?" The kid shot back.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Sirius, you?"

"I didn't…I …I'm Garth, are you always so impossibly odd?"

"I've been informed of that before, yes."

Biting back a laugh, he gasped as the name rang a bell. It was a fairly unusual name yet he had heard it called out not even a week before and suddenly he knew where he'd seen the boy before. "You're the kid who gave me money last week; while you were shopping with your friends."

"I didn't think you'd recognise me," the kid, Sirius, looked impressed.

"There's not many kids who give money out to beggars, especially ones whose friends have already been pulled away by their parents."

"Yes, well, I found the reasons for being pulled away stupid so I ignored him while lifting my uncle's wallet."

"You already knew then what I was….how?"

"That thing on your collarbone is rather hard to miss," the kid indicated to the harsh black lines branded into his skin and he pulled his torn shirt closed with a curse. "If you want, I could fix your shirt for you?"

"Do you know how to do so?"

"I should hope so, or I'd be a sorry excuse of a wizard," pulling out his wand, the kid mumbled a spell and Garth's battered shirt was suddenly whole again.

"Thanks. You sure seem to put a lot of trust in your abilities, what would you have done if I'd attacked you?" He couldn't help but ask.

"You can try," the certainty in his abilities confirmed Garth's instinctive feeling of the boy being dangerous and he nodded.

"Right, since I have no desire to try and test your abilities, let's get to business. What would you need from me should I agree to this alliance you're proposing?"

"For now, mostly the occasional blood sample," Sirius immediately answered. "I would like to determine if there are similar spikes in your blood compared to my friend's and if so, I'd like to try and isolate those stems to hopefully come up with a potion of sorts to ease the symptoms of the transformation that works on every werewolf."

Humming in acknowledgement Garth took in the boy's determined expression and the words he had spoken. The kid wasn't just talking about helping his friend, he was hoping to help every werewolf there was. It was something that would've convinced him to help the boy even if his sheer desire to help his friend hadn't already convinced him to do so.

"How often would you need blood?"

"I'd like to draw blood at each cycle of the moon to see if there's a difference. There isn't in my friend's blood, but I prefer to be thorough. And at least one sample the day of the transformation and one of the day after, after that, I'm not sure yet."

"You certainly have it all worked out, count me impressed," leaning back in his seat, he picked up his fork again; taking a small bite.

"I really haven't," the kid sighed.

"What does your werewolf friend think of your plan?"

"I haven't told him. It's likely going to take years before I can make a true headway and I am not about to give him false hope for something I might not succeed in."

"Fair enough," appreciating the honesty, Garth nodded. "All right, count me in."

"You are? I haven't even discussed payment yet," the kid seemed surprised by his reaction and Garth wondered if he'd come across as that unreasonable to warrant such surprise.

"I don't want your money kid, even if you can clearly afford it with the way you're throwing Galleons around."

"What makes you think that wasn't all my savings?" The kid challenged.

"I remember you from last week, you weren't dressed as a poor guy," he admitted, shifting. "You're trying to help your friend and should you succeed, then I assume it would benefit me as well."

"My goal is to help every werewolf that deserves it."

"Deserves it?"

"The ones who don't want to hurt people; who have been forced into the transformation against their will and want a quiet life more than anything."

Whistling impressed, Garth shifted. "And how do you reckon you'll know the difference?"

"With magic, of course," the idea that he was stupid was so heavily implied that Garth couldn't help but bark out a laugh.

"Of course, well, you got yourself an alliance. How much blood would you need?" he asked while rolling up his sleeve.

"Ten drops of blood each time should be enough," the kid pulled a small phial out of his robe and handed it over when indicated. "Thank you."

"Thank me by finding a fix for that blasted pain some day," grunting, he quickly cut into his hand and let his blood well up enough to drip it into the phial before closing it; blinking surprised when the kid reached out to heal the small cut.

"Thanks," baffled at the kind gesture, he watched as Sirius safely put the phial away before tensing and suddenly rose to retrieve his cloak; slinging it on.

"Thank you, I wish I could stay longer to negotiate our deal more thoroughly, but my absence had just been noticed," he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket even as Garth realised the kid must have set some kind of magical alarm to alert him should his absence be noticed. "I will send an owl every time I need blood, but should you need or want to contact me at any time; I will arrange for an owl to be at your service at this address at any time."

Taking the slip of parchment from him, Garth nodded. "I'd better get going as well."

"If you want, you can stay here as a tap account has been opened. If you wish to leave now but return at a later time, you just have to give my name and you'll be given a room or just food. It won't let you drink yourself into a stupor or take out enormous amounts of food; but it should give you some comfort."

"That's an awfully nice gesture for a few drops of blood every once in a while," swallowing past the lump in his throat at the kindness displayed, he licked his lips.

"If I could, I would do this for every single person out there on the streets," the kid informed him. "But I can't currently do much without endangering everything so I'll settle for helping the ones I can reach in the ways that I can."

"I'll take the room for the night, but I'll be fine further; thank you," Garth wasn't sure what else to say to the near apologetic tone in the boy's voice for not doing more despite the fact that he was already trying to do more than most ever even though of doing.

"The offer stands, it's your choice if you want to use it or not," the kid simply said. "And I should be thanking you. I'll send you updates on the development once a month regardless of progress so you know where we stand."

Nodding in agreement, he watched as the kid finished buttoning up his cloak; dread filling him at the idea of this kind boy walking the streets of Knockturn Alley on his own.

"Should I bring you somewhere?"

"I'm fine, but thank you," the mischievous grin the kid gave him was downright wicked as he waved once before disappearing with a loud distinguishable bang signalling House-Elf Apparating and a loud laugh escaped him at the realisation the kid had never been alone.

No wonder he'd been so sure of his safety even beyond his own abilities as not only had the kid been smart enough to bring backup; he'd also managed to cloak the House-Elf's presence from him and kept it hidden to keep the element of surprise.

If Garth hadn't liked the kid before, he certainly did now as he wasn't just witty; he was also quite the tactician.

Snorting, he turned back to his meal; only to come to a stop at the sight of two golden coins greeting him from beside his fork.

He had all but forgotten about the promised money and wondered when the kid had managed to place them without him noticing.

Shaking his head fondly, he retook his seat; mentally adding sneaky and cunning to the list of attributions the boy had displayed and couldn't help but believe that if anyone could do it, it might just be this kid.

And even if he failed, he had no doubt this kid would do anything in his power to at least try; and picking up his glass of Firewhisky, he rose it into a salute. "Good luck, kid."


End file.
